Huntsman threatens vetoes

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is getting tougher with state legislators — threatening to veto two bills and insisting the sales tax be removed from food at the cash register.

Speaking to the Deseret Morning News on a wide range of subjects, Huntsman said that halfway through the 2006 Legislature, he's feeling more comfortable as the state's chief executive and will see to it that his office remains a strong partner in setting state policy.

"I know what I want at the end of the day, and I know what will satisfy me," said Huntsman when asked if the much-hated sales tax on food will finally be repealed. "I'm optimistic that we will have that outcome."

Huntsman said he will veto HB352 and SB70 should they pass the Legislature. Rarely does a Utah governor promise a veto before a bill has finally passed. And Huntsman made no such threats during the 2005 Legislature, his first in office.

Huntsman said both bills harm what he sees as the balance of power between his office and lawmakers. The governor said he's warned the sponsors that he'll veto the bills "because they are too extreme."

HB352 would change the budget process so the Legislature could refuse to adopt all or part of the next year's budget and let the current budget for that disputed part just continue until the new one is finally voted into law.

Huntsman contends the change "would weaken my ability to negotiate" a compromise budget with legislators.

Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, had a veto-proof 52 co-sponsors when she first introduced HB352. But by Friday, Dayton only had 46 co-sponsors listed on the bill. Mike Mower, Huntsman's deputy chief of staff and spokesman, said "six representatives who are co-sponsors have said they will remove their sponsorship" should Huntsman ask for it — and apparently they already have.

It takes 50 votes in the House to override a gubernatorial veto, 20 votes in the Senate. HB352 awaits full House debate.

The other bill that Huntsman said he'd veto, SB70, would give the Legislature the power to override a gubernatorial veto of nuclear and other hazardous waste-siting permits. Currently, either the governor or Legislature can stop a hazardous waste permit without the consent of the other.

SB70 has passed the Senate, 22-6 and is on Monday's agenda of the House Business and Labor Committee.